An Iowa group comprising 65 companies and organizations are calling on their congressional delegation to lead the renewal of the federal production tax credit (PTC).

In a letter sent to Iowa's congressional delegation, the group highlights the wide-reaching impacts of wind energy in the state - from manufacturing jobs, to income for farmers, to tax revenue for rural school districts.

The letter states: “The wind industry in Iowa has diversified our rural economy. Since 1992, 2,978 wind turbines have been installed on 104 utility scale and community scale wind farms. Iowa now has 4,322 MW of electric generation capacity and 450 MW are under construction. This represents nearly $5 billion funneling through Iowa’s economy.”

"We often remind people that wind supports as many as 7,000 jobs in Iowa," says Harold D. Prior, executive director of the Iowa Wind Energy Association. "This letter shows the breadth of the impact of wind, which ranges from our schools, which are educating the renewable energy leaders of tomorrow, to the labor groups who are building wind in Iowa, to our farmers who benefit from the added income of land leases."

He continues: “While the issue of the PTC has become heated rhetoric in the presidential campaign, in Iowa, wind is a jobs issue, not a partisan issue.”

this content item is from North American Windpower
( http://www.nawindpower.com/e107_plugins/content/content.php?content.10391 )